The Dynamic Association Between Emotional Functioning, Quality of Life, and Subjective Cognitive Concerns in a Large...

Research has linked subjective cognitive concerns with emotional functioning, but few studies have examined if there is a dynamic association across time. This study explored whether the association between subjective cognitive concerns, emotional functioning, and quality of life (QoL) is more trait-based (i.e., associated at an average-level) or more state-based (i.e., changes in emotional functioning at one timepoint are related to simultaneous changes in subjective cognitive concerns).

Participants included 1061 community-dwelling adults aged 50-99 at baseline from the observational Successful Aging Evaluation (SAGE) study in San Diego, California. This study analyzed data collected over eight years.

Participants completed the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) to assess subjective cognitive concerns yearly. Self-reported emotional functioning (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress symptoms, and resiliency) and QoL were also assessed yearly. Associations between emotional functioning and QoL measures and CFQ scores were analyzed using multilevel modeling.

Between-person analyses showed that worse average emotional functioning and QoL were associated with greater average cognitive concerns (ps <0.0001; partial R² > 0.28). Within-person analyses indicated that worse emotional functioning and QoL at a given timepoint were significantly associated with greater cognitive concerns at the same timepoint (ps <0.0001; partial R² = 0.007-0.017). Within all five examined predictors, stress had the greatest within- and between-person associations with CFQ scores.

Findings suggest that subjective cognitive concerns are related to trait-like, and to a lesser extent, state-like emotional functioning and QoL. Incorporating assessment of both general and current emotional functioning could refine the use of subjective cognitive concern measures.